Presented Problem: Market size could be 8 times larger if can cut intermediate chemical cost by 35% History: Process had been worked on for 3 years by several chemists and chemical engineers and was thought to have already been optimized. Core Problem: Slow reaction due to feed pressure issues and poor selectivity to desired product…
Presented Problem: Sales forecast exceeds capacity, build reactor system to meet demand History: Process had been worked on for 31 years by numerous chemists and chemical engineers and my technical peers felt the process was optimized. Core Problem: Process ran 2 reactions in series (A then B) in same batch reactor. The reactor was under…
Presented Problem: Demand increased, so build 2 exact copies of reactors we now have Core Problem: Extremely poor heat transfer in solid-gas reaction resulted in fires in reactor. History: Process had been developed by professors and worked on for 5 years by chemists and chemical engineers and my technical peers were too busy avoiding fires…
Presented Problem: Compare Energy use in product recovery by extraction to old distillation process. History: The old process had been worked on decades ago, and recently updated by 4 engineers. The engineering management felt the old distillation process was close to optimized and should be used as-is for comparison to extraction. Core Problems: Old process…
Presented Problem: Build 2nd column to meet sales and find where losing 562K lbs/yr product for new chemist in group. History: Process had been worked on for 31 years by numerous chemists and chemical engineers and my technical peers, except the new chemist, all felt the process was optimized. Core Problem: Process was run at…
Presented Problem: Minimize capital for separation of 3 key components using 2 columns History: This process had been modeled by several BS, MS, and PhD engineers. All previous engineers unconsciously solved the problem following a linear, sequential optimization approach, and their method failed to optimize the design. Core Problem: Tight goals for yields and purities…
Presented Problem: Need to increase carpet coating depth from 50% to 100% for simultaneous co-application of 2 chemicals History: Invention of stain blocker chemical changed desired depth in carpet of chemical treatment desired. Core Problem: No route for gas escape prevented deeper foam coating penetration, and floating head design on coater (needed for carpet seams)…
Presented Problem: Design large plant using technology supplier at greenfield site. History: First USA small plant from technology supplier failed to run due to recurring water contamination in many places. Core Problems: Needed to uncover several design flaws or weaknesses and minimize capital cost Process Results: *Correctly sized height of methanol vacuum legs to prevent…
Background: A pattern is created on a moving web by a spinning steel wheel. The Web is only 5 mils thick. When the product is made right, the pattern is 3 mils deep into the 5 mil web, leaving exactly 2 mils left. During normal production, the line speed varies between 0 and about 2000…
Presented Problem: Opinions were driving business decisions instead of data. Data: Contractor was taking 3 weeks instead of 2 to install equipment at each of 29 customer sites. Data: New produst roll-out was 4 months behind schedule and falling farther behind. Consensus Opinion of Marketing and Sales: It was all the contractor’s fault. History: Marketing…
Bloomdahl Engineering 